Sunday, January 27, 2013

God’s written Word, the Scriptures, shape us in the relationship the Triune God is creating in us through the life, death and resurrection of the Son. Ancient and strange as these words are, they lead us to our Lord Jesus and to life.Pr. Joseph G. Crippen, Third Sunday after Epiphany, year C; texts: Nehemiah 8:1-10; Psalm 19; Luke 4:14-21

Sisters and brothers, grace to you, and peace in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

We are a strange and peculiar people who do a strange and peculiar thing. I don’t know if you noticed it or not, but we just did it, right now. The difficulty is that we’ve seen it done so often we’ve come not to consider it odd. You and I heard three people read from an ancient Book. We gathered together today and asked three people, a lector, an assisting minister, and the presiding minister, to open and read from a book that in its newest part is nearly 2,000 years old, but in its oldest is closer to 4,000 years old. We also sang together a song from that book that has been sung pretty continually by human beings for nearly 3,000 years.

More to the point, we asked people to read these old words to us today because we have agreed amongst ourselves, and with people like us in the world, that these elderly texts are actually words from the God who made all things. We asked people today to read these words because we also have decided and believed, along with many like us in the world, that these ancient readings matter to our lives. And you have called me to the task of now speaking to you about these words, as if these words should and do matter to us in our lives.

But do we understand how strange and foreign this is? How unusual we are? We Christians are not people who find God by gazing at our navels. We don’t find God by using mind-altering substances. We don’t find God in the desires of our heart, even, or in our hopes and dreams. In fact, we Christians do not believe we even find God. We believe the God who made all things finds us, seeks us out, and does this in a large part through these ancient words. Though these words are millennia old, we believe they also were written for us.

And so, we are people of the Book, as are our Jewish and Muslim sisters and brothers. We are connected most tightly to the belief not that God is found anywhere, but that God, and God’s plan, and all we need to know about God, can be found in a two to four thousand year old book. And that is very strange. And unfamiliar to the secular world in which we live.

If we’re not able to stop for a moment and recognize how utterly different from the culture what we do here is, what we do when we open a Bible in our homes or study it, when we seek out preaching, we risk taking for granted that we actually believe these words will change us, move us, matter to us. And we risk losing the very truth to which these old words will lead us.

When we consider Ezra and Jesus, however, we see a familiar sight, and begin to understand once more.

In Nehemiah 8, the scribe Ezra stands on a wooden tower built over the people and reads to them from the law of God. (Which sounds a lot like what I’m doing right now.) This is after the exile, as we heard this morning, “the people of Israel [were now] settled in their towns.”

Ezra and Nehemiah are among those scribes who are determined to help Israel correct the problems which led to Babylon’s destruction of their nation and their Temple. To do this, they need the people to hear God’s Word again, and since the people speak a different dialect or even language, and since they want all to be sure to understand, they intersperse the crowd with interpreters, other scribes and Levites, to help people know what’s going on.

The people are so overwhelmed by hearing God’s Word, they weep. But Ezra encourages a different reaction. He encourages them to be filled with joy, for they are hearing from God, and this joy should provide them great strength. Ezra wants them to hear and obey, and they do. But he also wants them to see the joy of having the Word of God read to them, and explained.

And look what happens when Jesus comes to his hometown, early in his ministry. He goes to synagogue on the Sabbath, as was his custom, Luke reminds. But notice this: at the synagogue, the people, his neighbors and friends, people who saw him grow to adulthood, do not ask, “Jesus, tell us about your view of the world. Tell us what you’ve been doing, your experiences. Tell us what you think of life.”

No. They give him a scroll, and say, “read it. Read it.” They ask him to give them the Word. They are Jews, after all. They say, “read this to us.” And so he does. And remarkably, like the people of Ezra’s time, they expect that it will be important to them. They wait afterward, like with Ezra, for preaching to come, for explanation, based on that Word. These ancient words are central to what they want from Jesus.

And so it is with you, and your expectations of me. You did not call me to come here and share my views of the world. To philosophize and share my wisdom. When you come here on Sundays, you don’t want me to read my latest essay on the human condition. There are lots of folks who write blogs on the Internet or essays in papers online and in print, people who say what they think about life and the world. Some are good, others not.

But that’s not what you have called me to Mount Olive to do. No, when I first came here, and now even today, you gave me a book. You gave me the Bible. You called me to be your pastor because I am ordained a minister of Word and Sacrament. And you said to me, and still say, “read this Book, this Word to us. Then, help us to know it better.”

We are people of the Book. God’s Book. Nothing bothers us more about preaching than when we hear a sermon where the pastor preaches with no reference to the Scriptures at all. We want to hear these ancient words. And then we want the preacher to help us understand them, like Ezra, like Jesus, because we believe they matter to our very life.

And that’s because, unlike any other words, we believe these words not only bring us life, they lead us to God.

This is very different from other words, new or ancient, and other readings.

Three years ago Mary and I visited Hannah in Nottingham, England, where she was studying for a year. We were able to join her and her other classmates from Luther at a production in the town of Stratford-on-Avon, at the theater of the Royal Shakespeare Company, a production of one of Shakespeare’s comedies. It was wonderful. These skilled actors spoke 500-year-old words and made them alive, they brought life and light to our evening, laughter and tears, joy.

This was a night we’ll remember for a long time. But though we heard these ancient words and found good in them, it was and is a very different thing from how we come before the written Word of God. Literature, essays, plays, movies, drawings, photographs, sculptures, many human creations and art forms inspire and move us. I’ve seen some beautiful art in my life, read some transformative works.

But while they teach us about the human condition, about ourselves, about life, even about good and evil, while they help us grow and become better people, while they challenge us in many ways, there is one thing that we do not claim about them. We do not claim or believe that they are God’s revelation to us which leads us to know definitively what God is doing in the world.

That, however, is what we claim about this book we call the Bible. There isn’t time here to fully consider why Christians, like our sisters and brothers of other faiths, attach such meaning to these particular ancient words. It’s worth a conversation, though, and worth our thought and consideration.

But for today, what we can say is that we continue in a line of believers that stretches back over 3,500 years or more, who have seen and experienced in these words the very voice of God. Who have claimed that the God of the universe speaks to us through these words and leads us to life and salvation, calls to us, challenges us, judges us, loves us.

We stand in the same line as Thomas Cranmer, whose collect from the 1552 Book of Common Prayer is appointed as our Prayer of the Day today, which says that God has given us these Scriptures for our nourishment and life. And so we ask God to help us “hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them.” That we take these words literally to heart, to our guts, to the core of our very being (for as the psalmist says they taste sweeter than honey), so that they might change us and shape us.

And the primary reason we need these words to do that is that it is these words which lead us to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the Living Word of God who saves us. Each of the books of the Bible works together with the others ultimately to show us what the Son of God was and is doing in the world for God’s creation.

There’s an old Communion hymn that didn’t make the cut from the green book to our new worship book, which begins “Here, O my God, I see thee face to face.” That’s why these words are different from any other for us. That’s why we gather week after week to hear them. That’s why we pick up our Bibles for study and daily prayer, something we never do with Shakespeare, beautiful as his writing may be.

Because here, in these words, as we encounter them daily, we see our Lord face to face and find his love for us, his grace, his invitation. These become words by which we live and die, words which change everything for us.

We are a strange people.

We are strange people, we with this book we call God’s Word. And though it may seem strange to the rest of our society, it is the place where we can find our Lord, just as the people of Nazareth saw him, revealed as the anointed One of God who brings healing and life to the world.

But now, of course, the real work begins. Knowing that we agree this is the Triune God’s voice for us, leading us to the Son, now we must read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest together. We will disagree at times about what we are hearing from God. We will not always understand. But such is the power of this written Word of God, this gift the Spirit helps us with, that when we do make mistakes of reading, of understanding, of interpretation, the Word continues to work in and among us and correct us, to bring us back to God’s path. It has done so often in the past, and will continue to do so with the help of the Spirit.

So we do this together, and with sisters and brothers in the Church around the world, and trust that our Lord the Living Word will open our hearts and minds to know what we need to know for life.

So strange as it may seem, this is why we do what we do. Because the God of the universe has spoken to us in these words, and led us to the Son of God who gives life to us and the world. There is nothing more important for us to know, to hear, to take in. It is our blessing to do this. It is our blessing to share this with the world. Thanks be to God for this gift!In the name of Jesus. Amen

Friday, January 25, 2013

Accent on Worship For “Accent on Worship” this week, I’d like to reprint the reflection from the conference on liturgy’s hymn festival, written by Paul Westermeyer. The hymn festival was about “Images of Creation: the Earthiness of Liturgy.” This reflection was about smoke, and it preceded the hymn “Isaiah in a Vision Did of Old.”-Cantor David Cherwien

Isaiah had a vision that the whole earth was full of the glory of God. So did Ezekiel. Ezekiel perceived God to be so holy that all you could see was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of God [Ezekiel 1:28]. God was protected by glory which was in turn protected by the appearance and the likeness of the glory. For Isaiah God was also protected by glory; and the glory of God was itself so holy that you could only approach it through smoke [Isaiah 6:4].

But in Christ God became flesh. Now we see God’s glory in Christ, full of grace and truth [John 1:14]; and we sing, “Holy, holy, holy” with a new vision. Both Isaiah’s vision and the one in Christ lead us to serve the earth and its creatures. When the smoke settles and the tomb is empty God asks, “Whom shall I send?”
The message God gives us is no picnic because it is full of grace and truth. The holiness of God’s anger has been kindled against a people who have wreaked injustice on the earth. There is no smoke now. God tells Isaiah to say to the people: “Hear, but don’t understand if you won’t. See, but perceive nothing if you won’t” [Isaiah 6:9]. Isaiah asks, “How long, O Lord?” God answers, “Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is utterly desolate” [Isaiah 6:11]. It is a message of doom.

Second Isaiah is coming, to be sure, with a word of comfort, valleys lifted up, hills made low, and the glory of God to be revealed. But God still comes with justice, and the nations are as a drop from a bucket [Isaiah 40:15]. The glory of God is revealed in Christ, to be sure, but in Christ the justice we are called to do on the earth is, if anything, even more heightened.

We continually need to get two things straight. First, the holiness of God is holy indeed, and we are right to point to it through smoke since even when we see it in Christ it is veiled in flesh beyond our understanding. Second, the holiness of God has implications for how we are to treat the earth which is charged with the grandeur of God. We usually get it backwards. We mistakenly think that by removing the smoke and tinkering with our worship we by our works can make God clear. Then, we think that is all we need to do, when in fact it is not only impossible and wrong; it is yet another clever way to avoid our calling to serve and care for the earth and all its creatures.

“Holy, holy, holy,” says the Sanctus. The beams shake, the house is filled with smoke, and God says, “Go.” - The Rev. Dr. Paul Westermeyer

Upcoming Adult Forums Sunday, January 27 – A presentation by the Minnesota Interfaith Council on Affordable Housing (MICAH).Sunday, February 3 – Bread for the World Offering of Letters, facilitated by Donna Neste.

The Presentation of Our LordSaturday, February 2, 2013Holy Eucharist at 7:00 pm

From the Mount Olive Foundation
The Mount Olive Lutheran Church Foundation is excited to be able to fund an annual gift to the Church from the earnings of its endowment in the amount of approximately $26,000. The value of the endowment is now approximately $800,000, thanks to generous donors and those who have included the Foundation in their estate plans. The use of the endowment gift is restricted to activities that directly benefit Mount Olive, therefore no outside programs are eligible for the annual gift. The Foundation in the past has preferred gifts that are capital items or special programs not able to be funded out of the budget or through other Church funds. Please submit any ideas that you have to a Vestry member under whom the program or gift would fall. The Foundation has asked that the following questions be addressed: 1. Amount of funds requested. 2. How will the funds be used? 3. How will this request benefit the mission of Mount Olive? 4. If there is not enough money to fully finance this request, would less money be useful?

Prayer Shawl Ministry News
The members of the Prayer Shawl Ministry will meet following the second liturgy this Sunday, January 27. They will meet downstairs in the Undercroft. The purpose of this meeting is to further define and plan our ministry to the people of Mount Olive. Feel free to join the group, and bring your knitting/crocheting if you like. Please contact Peggy Hoeft with any questions about this group: 952-835-7132, or by email to peggyrf70@gmail.com.

Taste of Ethiopia, February 10
Mark your calendars for “Taste of Ethiopia,” on Sunday, February 10. The preacher and education hour leader will be The Reverend Dinku Bato, a Ph.D. student at Luther Seminary in Congregational Mission and Leadership, from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Between 1998-2009 Pastor Bato was the national coordinator of the Mekane Yesus University Student Ministry (EECMY-USM) in Adddis Ababa. He will be joined at Mount Olive by his wife Mergitu and three sons: Amen (13), Ketim (9), and Melala (8). At the education hour, he will talk about the history and current context of Christianity in Ethiopia and Lutherans in particular. After the second liturgy, please join us for a lunch of Ethiopian food, prepared by members of Mount Olive. The annual “Taste of” event, which highlights the culture, foods, and history of various areas of our global community, is a long tradition at Mount Olive.

The Missions Committee is in need of volunteers who would be willing to cook a dish at home and bring to church on Sunday, February 10. The Missions Committee has the recipes. This is a wonderful chance to contribute to the event and to learn a new cuisine. We are also in need of volunteers to help prepare decorations for the event on Saturday, February 9. If you are interested in preparing one recipe at home and bringing it to church or in helping with decoration or set-up, please contact Paul Schadewald at pschadew@yahoo.com or 612-237-8517.

Book Discussion Group
The Book Discussion Group will NOT meet in February because several members will be traveling at the usual meeting time. For the March 9 meeting we will discuss Midnight's Children, by Salman Rushdie. For the April 13 meeting we will discuss In the Company of the Courtesan, by Sarah Dunant. Looking ahead, in May we will discuss Children of God by Mary Doria Russell. This is the sequel to her novel The Sparrow which we read earlier.

A New Opportunity to Serve
Noticing that many of the guests linger after the Community Meal, the Neighborhood Ministries Committee took a survey to determine whether there was interest in staying for a social hour after the meal. There was enough favorable response so that we are considering providing a social time. However, the volunteers serving the Community Meal are obviously otherwise occupied. This is where you come in. It is our hope that a Mount Olive group or individual would like to take on this service. There is interest among the guests particularly in playing board games, and doing craft activities. The social hour could be kicked off, for instance, with a game of Bingo. A social time such as this could help fill a need for people who are often isolated and seeking to form relationships.

This service would require only a couple of hours on the Saturday that the community meal is served. If you or your committee or other group might be interested in carrying out this activity, please contact Carol Austermann (722-5123) or Eunice Hafemeister (721-6790) or speak to any member of the Neighborhood Ministries Committee.

Haug Family Ending Mission Work in Slovakia
The ELCA just contacted the Missions Committee to let us know that the Haug family has ended its mission to Slovakia/Eastern Europe. Pr. Arden Haug has taken the position of pastor at Lake of the Isles Lutheran Church here in Minneapolis. We pray that their transition goes well.

Upon the recommendation of the Missions Committee, Mount Olive had allocated $2,000 in the 2013 budget to support the Haug family, as part of the 4% congregational support to missions. The ending of this particular mission offers new possibilities. The Missions Committee will take time to examine how these funds should be used in 2013 and into the future. If you have questions, concerns, or suggestions, please contact Paul Schadewald, Missions Committee Director, at pschadew@yahoo.com.

Nave Seating
You will notice some 'rearranged' seating in the nave this Sunday. One of the pews near the front (pulpit side) has been exchanged for a shorter one from one of the upper galleries to provide additional wheelchair accessibility. This mirrors the open space already available on the lectern side. Please leave these spaces available for those who need them, including the section of pew directly next to them for companions. Thanks to the Vestry, the Property Committee and the Thursday C.P.R. team (Art and George) for making this possible, that Mount Olive might continue to be a place of welcome for all.

Reconciling in Christ Festival Worship
The Reconciling in Christ Program of ReconcilingWorks Twin Cities welcomes all people to join in their eighth annual Metro Area Festival Worship on Saturday, January 26, 2013, 4:30 p.m., at First Lutheran Church (463 Maria Avenue, Saint Paul). The service of Word and Sacrament celebrates the welcoming ministries of Metro area Lutheran churches. Rev. Anita Hill will preach.

The RIC program rosters Lutheran congregations that welcome and affirm LGBT persons in their full sacred worth. Both the Minneapolis and Saint Paul Area Synods are RIC Synods and together include dozens of RIC worship communities. A light supper will follow the service. All are welcome!

From the December, 2012 meeting
The December 10, 2012 meeting of the Vestry centered primarily around end of the year wrap-ups for many of the different areas represented on the board. First on the agenda was a discussion about restricted accounts and their general oversight and viability. Kat Campbell-Johnson presented an overview of all of the accounts and their standing as a starting point for a review of the accounts.

As we look forward to 2013, the Stewardship committee would like to remind the congregation to turn in their pledges for the upcoming year. Pledge cards can be placed in the collection plate at Sunday services.
William’s recovery has been progressing and we would like to thank all of you who have stepped in to help with the upkeep of the church during these past few weeks. The Properties committee also welcomes everyone to participate in the winter clean up which will take place in January after Epiphany. Watch for details in the Olive Branch.

The past month has been an extremely busy one at Mount Olive. Pastor Crippen and Cantor Cherwien have been busy with several funerals as well as preparing for Advent and Christmas. Congregational Life has worked the funerals and also served a well hosted an Advent luncheon for senior members of the congregation and a luncheon for synod pastors.

The Tithe Task Force will present their recommendations to the congregation after the second service on Sunday, December 16. All are asked to attend to approve the suggestions.
Missions will once again be hosting a “Taste of…” meal on February 10, 2013. This year Ethiopia will be the focus and that Sunday will include preaching from an Ethiopian pastor and delicious foods to be sampled after the service. Look for details in a future Olive Branch.

From the January, 2013 meeting
The first Vestry meeting of the new year was held on January 14 and was a positive one on many fronts. As we look forward to the coming year there are several items to note. Mount Olive is a generous congregation and many organizations have offered thanks for gifts they have received from us. Thank you letters have been received from the Capital Campaign Tithe grant recipients and those letters, along with more information about the organizations, will be posted in the near future. In addition, December giving was very strong and allowed us to pay off several commitments and end 2012 with a slight positive balance, and with an overall increase in member giving of 12% over 2011.

A number of people will be working to promote sustainability and green living. Also, Judy Hinck has been appointed as a new member of the Missions committee.

In the coming weeks look in The Olive Branch for a request for ideas that can use funding from the Mount Olive Foundation. Last year’s application process was a great success and Vestry Directors will gather ideas to bring to the Foundation.

Pastor Crippen and Cantor Cherwien both wrapped up a busy Advent and Christmas season. As they shared in their reports, when you add it up the numbers can be surprising. For example, Cantor Cherwien presented 90 hymns throughout the season and Pastor preached six sermons in 11 days during the Christmas season.

In the next few weeks look in The Olive Branch for details of some of these upcoming mission events. On February 10, the Missions Committee will host Taste of Ethiopia. Reverend Dinku Bato will be preaching that day and will also be a part of the adult forum. An Ethiopian meal will be served after second service. The following week, Lisa Ruff will lead an Adult Forum on their family’s work with Common Hope. She will be joined by representatives of Common Hope who wish to thank the people of Mount Olive for the gift they received from our Capital Campaign tithe.

The Stewardship Committee has noted pledges for $409,115 this year, which is about $3,000 less than last year. Approximately 1/3 of the congregation has submitted pledges to date. If you want to submit your pledge there is still time to do so.

Sunday, January 20, 2013

The abundance of God’s grace is revealed to the world in the Incarnate Son of God who first reveals that abundance in the changing of water into wine, the bringing of the extraordinary joy of God’s presence to the ordinary things of our lives.Pr. Joseph G. Crippen, Second Sunday after Epiphany, year C; texts: John 2:1-11

Sisters and brothers, grace to you, and peace in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

There is sometimes a spirit among the people of the United States (and perhaps other peoples, but this is where we live and have experienced it) that seems to be afraid of not having enough. Perhaps it comes from the shaping of the Great Depression, but we seem too easily to step into the trap of thinking we’re tight on what we need, that things are short, and we’d better look out for ourselves, despite our having so much more than the majority of our fellow human beings. This spirit shows itself in a fierce hatred of taxes among some, even if those taxes make life better for all citizens (building roads and schools, for example), and especially if those taxes help others in deeper need than we ourselves. It shows itself in a meanness of self-centered concerns in voting, in a selfish withholding of grace and forgiveness to others, as if we diminish the supply if we pour it out on people we don’t think deserve it, and in a fear of losing what we have so that we cling to our ways and our things with white-knuckled hands.

Yet others, even many among us in our country and in our midst, somehow have a sense of abundance, even in times of want. These are people who amaze and astonish us with their graciousness, their open-handedness, in material and spiritual things. People who always seem to have something to share with another person, even if they themselves seem deprived. People whose joy at being forgiven and loved compels them to love others no matter what. These people inspire us to consider that perhaps, with a different way of seeing and thinking about our lives and our world, we, too, could know such joy and peace.

Today we celebrate the third manifestation of Epiphany, a manifestation the Church has long linked to the other two we’ve celebrated the past two weeks, which is why we decided to extend our Epiphany white an extra week into the green season. In this manifestation the adult Son of God reveals his glory. In making a party more abundant. In making sure there’s enough wine to extend the joviality and festivities. There are many who wish to dismiss this action as trivial, trying to understand why Jesus would do such a thing, for in the big picture of the suffering of life, who cares about having enough wine? But John the Evangelist says this is pivotal, this is the “first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and [he] revealed his glory.” John suggests we pay close attention to this raucous party, and particularly to our Lord’s participation in it.

There’s a lovely moment in this story when the steward says about this new wine, “this is the good stuff.” Perhaps that’s what our Lord invites us to see as we encounter this, the first revelation of his glory. Perhaps our Lord needs us to see the “good stuff,” the abundance that God has given us and the world, rather than continue to grumble that we might run out of what we need some day.

John seems to be speaking of more than just the first sign among many miracles when he says, “this was the first.” Because in John’s Gospel, when the Incarnate Son arrives, abundance flows, and it’s always far from unimportant.

At Cana, this first sign is excessive and beyond what is needed: even if a party is running out of wine, even if it is, as were wedding feasts in those days, a three day affair, would they really need between 120 and 180 gallons of wine? And wonderful wine at that?

But that’s the best part of the story, isn’t it? (Well, apart from the wonderful give and take that Mary and her son Jesus have.) But this is the glory of this sign: the groom and his family need more wine so as not to be embarrassed before their neighbors and friends. Jesus gives them more wine than they could begin to consume in weeks of celebrating. So the glory revealed here is that when the Triune God, Incarnate in the Son, comes to a party, there’s not only enough for all. There’s beyond enough. And it’s all good stuff, fine vintage.

But such abundance anchors the entire Gospel of John, beginning, middle and end. Central to the story of Jesus’ ministry in John is the story of the feeding of 5,000 plus, a story all four Evangelists tell, but one which only John expands into a deep, critical meditation on the gift of Jesus himself.

But to start with, it’s a Cana party, all over again. There’s no food, well, except for a little boy’s lunch, and many are hungry. The disciples, in the role of Mary, ask Jesus what is to be done. And just as at Cana, Jesus acts as if he doesn’t know what he will do, here questioning Philip as to what he thinks should be done. But then he has the disciples seat the people, and feeds them from five loaves and two fish.

Nothing is said about the quality of the sandwiches, as was said at Cana about the wine, but as at Cana, there’s not just enough for all. There’s far more than enough. Twelve baskets are filled with the leftovers. These are hungry, poor people. If there are that many leftovers, it is only because they were satiated, satisfied, filled. And once more, the glory revealed here is that when the Triune God, Incarnate in the Son, comes to a picnic, there’s not only enough for all. There’s beyond enough.

When we move to the end of the Gospel of John, once more we see a sign like this, after Jesus’ resurrection. Seven disciples have left Jerusalem and returned to Galilee, for reasons John doesn’t explain. They fish all night, at Peter’s insistence, and catch nothing. Luke tells a similar story at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. But John says the same thing happened here.

Because when they start rowing to shore in the morning, with empty nets, they see Jesus on the shore (though they don’t know it is he.) And he once more acts as if he doesn’t know what will happen, and asks them if they’ve caught anything. When they say no, he invites them to try the right side of the boat. And they catch so many fish they aren’t able to haul the net in.

When they come to shore, Peter having swum in since he now knows it’s Jesus, they have breakfast with their Lord, using these fish they caught. But John adds a detail which I used to think odd: he says they caught 153 large fish. Why, I have wondered, does the number and size matter?

But in the light of Cana, and the feeding of 5,000, I think I understand: once again we not only have enough, we have more than enough. Eight people for breakfast, 153 large fish. That’s what the Son of God does. Once again, the glory revealed here is that when the Triune God, Incarnate in the Son, comes to a fishing expedition, there’s not only enough for all. There’s beyond enough.

So if, in spite of this abundance of stories about God’s abundance, we still have that sense that we don’t have enough, maybe that’s because we aren’t seeing properly.

In all three of these revelations of abundance, there are people who can’t see what’s happened.
Only the disciples and the servants know the truth about the wine, not the bridegroom, nor the steward, nor the wedding guests.

In John 6, Jesus spends a great deal of time talking about the feeding of the 5,000 and it’s clear that even the disciples don’t really realize what happened there, and certainly not Jesus’ opponents.

And whatever the seven disciples in Galilee thought about the breakfast on the beach after Jesus’ resurrection, I never fully understood the 153 fish until now, in spite of the fact that this encounter is one of the stories that norm and shape my faith and life. It just seemed an odd detail to include.

So the question in our lives seems to be not “do we have enough,” but “are we actually sure we’re seeing clearly what we have?”

And our vision is related to our expectations.

If we have an idea of how much money we need in the bank to be secure, and we don’t have that much, we will be insecure. If we, however, can see how to get by on much less than we normally would think, then we have a completely different vision along with a different attitude.

If we have an idea that all things need to be good and happy and whole for us to be happy and fulfilled, then when things are hard or broken or painful, we will feel miserable. If, however, we recognize the promise that God is with us always, even in our hard times, our painful times, then whether we are rich or poor, whether all things are going well or all things are falling apart, “whether we live or whether we die,” as Paul says, we realize we are the Lord’s.

If we have an idea of what the “good stuff” is that is based on the world’s evaluation – the best of things money can buy, the finest things in the world – then if we aren’t able to have such things we will be dissatisfied with our life and our lot. But when a man dying of thirst in a desert finds a pool of brackish water that most would consider unfit to drink, it tastes like the finest spring water, cool and refreshing. It’s all about one’s point of view. What God provides us is far more than brackish water. But if we are expecting the world’s standard of “good stuff,” we might miss the incredible abundance of riches God actually gives.

What Jesus’ manifestation at Cana invites us to do is see God’s action differently, and begin to lose our fear.

And so as we gather here once more to worship the Triune God, we gather to be fed with an embarrassment of abundance. To be blessed by the gracious Word of God in speech, song, and prayer, filling us with the good news of God’s love for us and the world. A good news which transforms our lives forever.

We gather to be blessed by the Meal of Life our Lord gives us, filling us also with the good news of God’s love for us and the world. Once more, Jesus transforms the ordinary, this bread and wine, into the extraordinary grace of his crucified and risen life, his forgiveness, life and love that is ours and the world’s in this meal.

We gather to be blessed by the presence of our Lord himself as promised in these people around us, yet again filling us with the good news of God’s love for us and the world. That the abundance of God’s love and grace abide in us and in each other and that we are sent, filled, graced, loved, to fill, grace, and love the world in God’s name, abundantly and eternally.

And when we see God acting in such abundance, abundant grace, abundant goods, abundant life, we also begin to live as if there will always be enough, instead of fearing we are falling short. We learn to rejoice at the many ways God cares for us and the world, and learn to see abundance where it really is. And let our fears subside by opening our hands to share. And so we become part of God’s abundance in our fearlessness.

So we see that in each of these abundance stories, the people bring something to God, share something, which is then blessed to expand in dramatic, ridiculous ways.

Jars are filled to brimming with water, the stuff of life, and Jesus transforms it into glorious wine, flowing beyond belief.

A boy has a small lunch to share, nothing, really, but the stuff of life for him, and Jesus transforms it into food for all, and more to spare.

The disciples work all night and catch nothing, but offer their work one more time at Jesus’ instruction, and Jesus transforms an empty net into a net bursting with goodness and food, more than they could begin to eat.

And so it is with us, when we have learned to trust God to provide, we offer what we have to let God so transform it that the world is filled to the brim with God’s goodness. We are a part of God’s astonishing abundance by wasting less, taking less, learning to share with our sisters and brothers so that all might have enough, learning not to be afraid, beginning to see God’s abundance for all. Through our new vision and lack of fear, God works not only to fill us to the brim, but to fill others as well, that all might live.

The “Good Stuff” is everywhere when the Triune God, Incarnate in the Son, is among us. That’s what we see today and always.

May God open our eyes to see this revelation, this manifestation which continues in our midst, that we might see the abundance God has poured out on us and on the world. And may the Spirit of God so empower us that we become signs of that foolish, frivolous, and life-giving abundance to all we meet and see, signs of the love of the Incarnate Son among us, who, when he comes to a party makes it so there’s not only enough for all. There’s beyond enough, astonishingly so.

Friday, January 18, 2013

Accent on Worship

What’s With the Wine?

Sunday we have the third epiphany the Church celebrates in early January, the third manifestation of God’s glory in the world in Jesus. Because of the way the calendar works this year, we have all three on successive Sundays: Epiphany, Jan. 6, was a Sunday this year, and this Sunday’s Gospel only is used every three years, but it all came together in 2013.

The three manifestations, which the Church has long linked together, are the coming of the Magi to see the infant Jesus, the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan, and the miracle Jesus performed at a wedding in the village of Cana (our Gospel this Sunday.) In the first, God’s incarnate Son, an infant, is revealed to the outside world; in the second, God’s incarnate Son, now an adult, is named publicly by the Father and visited by the Spirit, thus being the first time the Trinity is revealed and proclaimed in the world; and in the third, God’s incarnate Son himself reveals his glory, his divinity, by transforming water into wine to help a party move along properly.

Some Christians have found this third epiphany anti-climactic, given the others. Why would Jesus’ first miracle be making water turn into wine? For those who believe Christians never should consume alcohol, it’s even more uncomfortable to see this story. The point made is that with all the problems people have, sickness, death, suffering, surely Jesus’ first miracle could have been more than this trivial thing, making a party, well, a real party.

But consider what Jesus did here. He had compassion on a family who was going to be embarrassed, humiliated before their friends and family, by not having enough refreshments for their wedding. Sure, such humiliation only lasts until the next local scandal, but if you’ve ever worried that your party was failing, or that you didn’t provide enough, you know how anxious that can be. It might seem trivial to others, but to you it’s important. Jesus honors that, has compassion, and helps out. He makes the party continue, and the host to look good.

Perhaps that’s an important thing of this third manifestation, this third epiphany. Perhaps what Jesus is doing is telling us that he has come to be with us in all things, even things which others consider unimportant. He cares about our every need, and wants to bless them with his abundant grace and love. Maybe to others our cares and concerns seem minor, not worth bringing to Jesus. But at Cana, Jesus’ mother Mary shows us the way, that we can and ought to bring our concerns to our Lord.

So for me, I’m going to trust the Jesus at this party and at least mention my concerns to him, because I know they will matter to him. And like Jesus’ mother, I have confidence he will come to me in grace, abundant grace. That’s the joy of this epiphany that is ours and the world’s, always.

Sunday, January 27 – A presentation by the Minnesota Interfaith Council on Affordable Housing (MICAH).

Conference on Liturgy to Be Held This Weekend

This year’s Conference on Liturgy will be held January 18-19, 2013. The theme of this year’s conference is, “The Green Altar: Liturgy as Care for the Earth.”

There is still plenty of room! If you would like to attend this year’s conference, please register at the door this Saturday, beginning at 8:30 a.m. The cost to Mount Olive members is $35.

Hymn Festival Tonight at Mount Olive!

The Conference on Liturgy begins with a hymn festival which will take place on Friday, January 18, 2013 (tonight!), at 7:30 p.m. Leadership for the hymn festival this year will be by the Mount Olive Cantorei and Cantor David Cherwien.

Thursday Evening Bible Study

“Captive Conscience” is the title of a six-week Bible Study being held on Thursday evenings from 6:00-7:30 p.m. This Bible Study focuses on reading the Bible, how we are shaped by God’s Word, and what lenses we use as we read the Scriptures.

Though each of the sessions builds upon information from the previous sessions, they are also complete in themselves. So if you missed the first couple of sessions, there is still much to learn by coming to subsequent sessions, even if you can only attend one or two. All are invited.

The study begins with a light supper. If anyone wishes to provide one week’s meal, please let Pr. Crippen know. Looking ahead, in Lent Vicar Cannon will lead another six-week study.

2012 Year-End Contributions Statements

Contribution statements for 2012 are printed and available to be picked up at church, near the coat room. Please call the church office if you would like your statement mailed to you.

If you have any questions about your statement, or if you require a detailed amortization of your contributions, simply call Cha at the church office.

Prayer Shawl Ministry News

The members of the Prayer Shawl Ministry will meet following the second liturgy on Sunday, January 27. They will meet downstairs in the Undercroft. The purpose of this meeting is to further define and plan our ministry to the people of Mount Olive. Feel free to join the group, and bring your knitting/crocheting if you like. Please contact Peggy Hoeft with any questions about this group: 952-835-7132, or by email to peggyrf70@gmail.com.

The Presentation of Our LordSaturday, February 2, 2013Holy Eucharist at 4:00 pm

Taste of Ethiopia, February 10

Mark your calendars for “Taste of Ethiopia,” on Sunday, February 10. The preacher and education hour leader will be The Reverend Dinku Bato, a Ph.D. student at Luther Seminary in Congregational Mission and Leadership, from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Between 1998-2009 Pastor Bato was the national coordinator of the Mekane Yesus University Student Ministry (EECMY-USM) in Adddis Ababa. He will be joined at Mount Olive by his wife Mergitu and three sons: Amen (13), Ketim (9), and Melala (8). At the education hour, he will talk about the history and current context of Christianity in Ethiopia and Lutherans in particular. After the second liturgy, please join us for a lunch of Ethiopian food, prepared by members of Mount Olive. The annual “Taste of” event, which highlights the culture, foods, and history of various areas of our global community, is a long tradition at Mount Olive.

The Missions Committee is in need of volunteers who would be willing to cook a dish at home and bring to church on Sunday, February 10. The Missions Committee has the recipes. This is a wonderful chance to contribute to the event and to learn a new cuisine. We are also in need of volunteers to help prepare decorations for the event on Saturday, February 9. If you are interested in preparing one recipe at home and bringing it to church or in helping with decoration or set-up, please contact Paul Schadewald at pschadew@yahoo.com or 612-237-8517.

Book Discussion Group News

The Book Discussion Group will NOT meet in February because several members will be traveling at the usual meeting time. For the March 9 meeting we will discuss Midnight's Children, by Salman Rushdie. For the April 13 meeting we will discuss In the Company of the Courtesan, by Sarah Dunant. Looking ahead, in May we will discuss Children of God by Mary Doria Russell. This is the sequel to her novel The Sparrow which we read earlier.

A Note of Thanks

On behalf of the Vestry I want to say thank you to the members and friends of Mount Olive for once again responding in sacrificial and loving ways. Last month I shared with you a cash shortfall situation as we approached the end of the year and the response was incredible. I am pleased to inform you that the year ended very well, with a final giving total for the month of December of $91K, resulting in an overall giving increase of 12% over 2011. Because of this, our line of credit is fully paid off and all mission commitments and other year end disbursements were fulfilled without additional borrowing. Additionally, we are starting the new year with good, positive momentum. To God be all glory!

- Adam Krueger, President, Mount Olive Vestry

Olive Branch Deadline

Please note that The Olive Branch is prepared each week on Wednesdays (so that those who do not have email can receive the information at roughly the same time as those who do have email). The deadline for articles or announcements to be published is each Wednesday at noon. If you have information to share with the church community and want it to be published in the newsletter, please be sure it is submitted to the church office by Wednesday of the week you would like it published. It is also helpful to note how many weeks you wish your article or information to be included.

TRUST News

Two items of note from TRUST:

1. Martin Luther King celebration to be held this Sunday!

Join us this Sunday, January 20, at 5:00 PM for TRUST's 26th annual Martin Luther King celebration. It will be held at Living Spirit, 4501 Bloomington Ave. S. Featured at this event will be:
Sondra Samuels, CEO of the Northside Achievement Zone (NAZ); Tonia Hughes, local singer who has garnered critical acclaim for her leading roles in musical and theatrical productions; and the TRUST Youth will provide music and liturgy for this event.

2. The Gathering – The Gathering is a group respite program currently comprised of seven TRUST congregations. It is for people in early to mid-stage memory loss and it takes place at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 4100 Lyndale Ave. S. in Minneapolis. We are planning to open weekly beginning January 17, 2013! (We’ll expand our current 2nd and 4th Thursdays to include 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Thursdays – but will not meet on 5th Thursdays). Please call 651-414-5291 if you are interested in having a family member attend this group respite, or if you are interested in becoming a volunteer.

The Minneapolis Consortium of The Gathering began with TRUST congregations in 2009. Current members are Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Judson Baptist, First Universalist, St. John’s Lutheran Church, St. Joan of Arc, Lutheran Church of Christ the Redeemer, and Lynnhurst Congregational Church. Additional congregations and community members are always welcome.

The Gathering is looking for individuals and volunteer groups from area churches who might be willing to prepare and serve a meal. If this is an opportunity you might consider, please call Julie at 612-312-3366, or Carolyn at 952-261-5235.

Reconciling in Christ Festival Worship

The Reconciling in Christ Program of ReconcilingWorks Twin Cities welcomes all people to join in their eighth annual Metro Area Festival Worship on Saturday, January 26, 2013, 4:30 p.m., at First Lutheran Church (463 Maria Avenue, Saint Paul). The service of Word and Sacrament celebrates the welcoming ministries of Metro area Lutheran churches. Rev. Anita Hill will preach.

The RIC program rosters Lutheran congregations that welcome and affirm LGBT persons in their full sacred worth. Both the Minneapolis and Saint Paul Area Synods are RIC Synods and together include dozens of RIC worship communities. A light supper will follow the service. All are welcome!

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Water, wind and fire have the power to kill, and the power to bring new life. In Baptism, we encounter the power of those elements and are given peace with God and strength to face our challenges in the world.Vicar Neal Cannon, Baptism of our Lord, year C, texts: Luke 3:15-22, Psalm 29, Isaiah 43:1-7

Sisters and brothers, grace to you, and peace in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Every outdoorsman knows that we are subject to the elements. Wind, water, and fire can be your best friend, or your worst enemy.

During the summers in college I worked at a Bible Camp called Camp Vermillion in northern Minnesota. Along with their regular day-camp program, Vermillion also led trips into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. One Summer I decided to become a BWCA canoe guide. I wanted to have adventures in the wilderness.

I had never been an outdoorsy type person before, so I was nervous about this, but I had taken a few staff trips into the BWCA and loved it. I loved dipping my toes into a crisp, cool, glassy lake in the mornings. I loved the feeling of a strong breeze at your back as you dig your paddle into the water and pull yourself forward towards your next campsite. And I loved warming my feet by a fire at the end of the day as you sit with good friends and share a story.

But as I quickly learned as a guide, you know there is another side to the elements that can be challenging as well.

That strong wind that started at your back becomes a gale force howl in your face, or worse, at your side. And all of a sudden the cool crisp waters that you found so refreshing in the morning become rough and choppy wakes that threaten to tip your canoe into icy cold water. And so you dig your paddle in the water, but each stroke feels like you’re stirring cement and for every inch you propel forward, it feels like you go two inches back.

And then when you finally get to your campsite, the rains begin, and in the distance you hear a faint rumbling and you pray it doesn’t come any closer. Because of the rain, there will be no fire tonight, unless of course a stray branch of lightning hits an area of the blow down a hundred miles to the north, and starts a dangerous forest fire.

Of course, you don’t have to be an outdoorsman to realize the power and awesomeness of nature. This spring in Duluth one colossal rain storm flooded the city so badly that entire streets sank. And on the news we’re always hearing the story of how a hurricane leveled a city or how a fire burned an entire community to the ground.

The elements are powerful. They have the power to aid and sustain us, but they also have the power to destroy and hinder us.

That’s what strikes me most about our text today. There is this sense that the elements are threatening us at times, aiding us at other times, but our God is Lord of it all. As our Psalm tells us,

“The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD, over mighty waters. The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty. The voice of the LORD flashes forth flames of fire. The voice of the LORD causes the oaks to whirl, and strips the forest bare; and in his temple all say, ‘Glory!’ ”

Today is the Baptism of our Lord and this baptism is full of the elements. For example, when John the Baptist is asked by the people if he is the Messiah, he responds, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

John sets the stage for us here. He’s basically saying, “if you think I’m good, there’s someone coming who’s better. If you think being baptized with water is powerful, then wait until you’re baptized with fire.”

But sometimes, I think that John is selling short the power of baptism with water. We often think of water and baptism in kind terms. Water cleanses us. Water sustains us. Water gives us life.

But we forget that water also destroys. We drown in water. Water can destroy our homes and roads. Too much water ruins fields and crops. Water can be deadly.

Martin Luther understood the power of water in baptism. He once wrote, “These two parts, to be sunk under the water and drawn out again, signify the power and operation of Baptism, which is nothing else than putting to death the old Adam and after that, the resurrection of the new man.”

Luther says that baptism kills us and brings us to life. It’s not that John didn’t understand this. John wanted to kill our sinfulness through baptism. He’s known for saying things like, “Repent and be saved all ye sinners!” John wants our sinfulness to die. But it seems as though John expects the Messiah’s baptism to kill our sinfulness even more as he says in our text today, “The grains of wheat he gathers into his barn, but chaff the Messiah will burn with unquenchable fire!!!” And we’re left wondering, “Am I the grain, or the chaff?” To hear John tell it, the Messiah will bring more fire and anger and judgment into the world. So this makes me wonder if John understands fully the power of fire.

When we think of fire, we often think of its destructive power. Fire burns, fire destroys, fire melts. But often we don’t consider the positive elements of fire. The campfire dries our socks by at night, fire from the sun warms our planet, fire cooks our food. Without fire, there would be no life.

Plus, the image of fire in the Bible is often used in an empowering, not destroying context. During Pentecost we will hear the story of the tongues of fire coming down on the apostles, and in the Old Testament God appears to Moses in a burning bush that is not consumed by the fire.

So when John says that the Holy Spirit will come to Jesus with fire, he talks about the power of that fire to destroy, but neglects to mention how that might also give us life.

Then at the end of the reading, we learn something interesting. The Holy Spirit, the same fire that John mentions, comes to Jesus in the form of a dove. Now there are a couple of significant things about this.

In the Bible, the dove is a sign of good tidings. When God floods the world, Noah sends out a dove from the ark and when the dove comes back with an olive branch in its mouth, Noah knows that the waters are receding from the earth and God will save them. Thus the dove is a sign of peace, between God and humanity.

This is ironic because John says the Messiah will bring more judgment and instead, he brings more peace. What’s more, in the New Testament, the word for Holy Spirit is pneuma (nooma). While this is usually translated as Holy Spirit, the more literal translation is actually wind, or breath.

It’s where we get the term pneumatic device, or a device that transfers air or gas from one object to another. So when we’re talking about the Holy Spirit, what we’re actually talking about is the breath of God or the wind of God being like a dove of peace being transferred from God into Jesus.

In Jesus’ baptism, the breath, and wind, and fire of God descend on Jesus from heaven like a dove when he is baptized with ... water. These elements symbolize death and life and they are sealed with a sign of peace. And in this baptism, Jesus is empowered to begin His ministry on Earth.

This happens for us too.

One thing about being in the wilderness is you become keenly aware of how you are transformed by the elements. You become inexorably changed and shaped to go out into the world once you’ve passed through wind, water and fire.

Some of my best and most challenging moments in the BWCA were fighting with my group to get across the lake on a gusty day or huddling with the group on the side of a hill as the thunderstorm passed overhead.

At first, you feel like the elements are going to kill you, your muscles ache from paddling, a bolt of lightning strikes nearby, but then, by the grace of God, you make it to your campsite, and the storms pass overhead, and the skies clear.

You are reminded that the water, and the wind and the fire didn’t kill you, they made you stronger. And this takes away your fear so that the next day when the winds come, and the rain pours, and the lightning crashes, you’re ready to face the challenge again.

This is what baptism is doing in our life. It is killing our sinfulness and our fear and in? its place we’re strengthened daily to overcome the next obstacle and go on our next adventure. And it’s in these moments that the words of Isaiah are especially potent in our lives.

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.”

What I love about this verse from Isaiah is that you get this sense that God searched us out, and is searching us out. God is calling our names and finding us in our struggles.

So in those moments when we feel depressed, sad, alone, confused, those times in life where we feel like for every inch we move ourselves forward, we’re pushed two inches back. Then we remember that God brings us through the water and fire and wind to be redeemed. We remember that God gives us the Holy Spirit in baptism and Jesus dies for us on the cross. The Trinity crosses rivers and oceans and fires to bring us to salvation.

In this we’re given the strength to believe and hope that we can overcome anything that life throws at us. God never lets us go backwards, but continually draws us deeper into the Trinity with the promise that he will see us through to our salvation.

Remembering our baptism in this way helps us to face our fears, and our trials.

For example, have you ever had that moment in your life where you worried whether or not you were going to heaven? You’re scared that you’ve done something so wrong that God would never forgive you?

What if every time we passed that baptismal font we were reminded that we were given the Holy Spirit as a dove, and a sign of the peace that God has made with us.

What if we marked ourselves with the sign of the cross to remember that God has crossed oceans to be with us, and there is nothing we can do to separate ourselves from him.

Or have you ever felt like you’re too weak to take on the next challenge?

Maybe you’re in a toxic relationship that you need to get out of or maybe a life-giving one you can get into.
Maybe you need a new line of work, or to rededicate yourself to the old.
Maybe you’re scared to talk about your faith with people because you’re afraid of how you’ll be perceived.

Then, just maybe, touching that water would remind us that the same water, and fire and Spirit that strengthened and prepared Jesus Christ for ministry … is with us.

Do not fear, says the LORD, for I have redeemed you.

This is the promise of Baptism – that whatever trials we are facing in our lives, whatever it is we fear in our death, that the Triune God is redeeming us, bringing us new life.

So go forward with the confidence that the LORD sits enthroned over the elements. So when the fires come you will not be burned, when the waters rage you will not drown. And when the winds blow, you will not be pushed back. And know in your baptism the Triune God gives you strength and peace to face your next challenge, and begin your next adventure.

Friday, January 11, 2013

Accent on Worship

The Gift of God

On The Baptism of Our Lord Sunday, the question that comes to mind for me is, what is baptism? Baptism is a practice that almost all people hold dearly in the Lutheran Church. Even those who don’t worship regularly or believe strongly have a sense that baptism is something they should do for their children. So why is this? Why do we baptize?

In the Lutheran tradition (as in most mainline Christian traditions), baptism is a sacrament. Sacraments are traditionally described as an earthly element (think water, bread, and wine) combined with God’s Word that delivers a promise to us. According to Luther, the promise is not so much about who gets it, but who gives it.

Luther writes in the Large Catechism, “Baptism is nothing else than water and the Word of God in and with each other, that is when the Word is added to the water, Baptism is valid, even though faith be wanting. For my faith does not make baptism, but receives it.” So according to Luther, baptism is a promise that we receive by God’s will. This promise says more about the giver than the receiver. So while baptism is something that we can learn about, and understand through study of scripture, it’s primarily a promise and a gift of the Holy Spirit given to us by God.

In my experience, this makes a lot of sense. This summer I worked at a long-term care facility which housed many patients with serious brain injury. Because of their brain injuries, many of the residents I worked with would have had trouble understanding baptism on an intellectual level, or even feeling spiritually moved towards “deciding” to be baptized. In some traditions, this is a problem because people are encouraged to make “a decision” for Christ, or to choose him. But how can you make a decision if you don’t understand nature and need for baptism?

The Lutheran understanding of baptism is helpful in this because we hold that God comes to us in baptism, not the other way around. In other words, it doesn’t matter if we’re mentally capable of understanding baptism because baptism is more about what God does for us than what we do for God.
So in this season of Epiphany, where we remember God coming to us in the form of Jesus Christ, remember that the Triune God also comes to us in our baptism whether we were baptized old or young or whether we feel our faith is strong or weak. In baptism we have a promise that God cares for us, seeks us out, and loves us without any work of our own! Praise be to God!

This year’s Conference on Liturgy will be held January 18-19, 2013. The theme of this year’s conference is, “The Green Altar: Liturgy as Care for the Earth.”

The conference begins with a hymn festival on Friday, January 18, 2013, at 7:30 p.m. Leadership for the hymn festival this year will be by the Mount Olive Cantorei, Cantor David Cherwien, with reflections by The Rev. Dr. Paul Westermeyer.

Please note that the cost for Mount Olive members to attend this year’s conference is $35/person. Additional registration forms are available at church, or by calling the church office.

Thursday Evening Bible Study

Starting January 3 and running for six weeks, there will be a Thursday evening Bible study meeting in the Chapel Lounge from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Pr. Crippen will lead a six-week series titled “Captive Conscience” which focuses on reading the Bible, how we are shaped by God’s Word, and what lenses we use as we read the Scriptures.

As with last year, there will be a light supper when we begin. If anyone wishes to provide a meal, please let Pr. Crippen know. Looking ahead, in Lent Vicar Cannon will lead another six week study.

Every Church a Peace Church

Mount Olive will host the next monthly potluck meeting of Every Church a Peace Church on January 14, 2013, beginning at 6:30 p.m. The speaker for this meeting will be Dr. Charles Amjad-Ali, Martin Luther King, Jr., Prof. of Justice and Christian Community at Luther Seminary in Saint Paul. He will address the topic, "Peace from Below: Martin Luther King's Legacy and our Vocation."

Plan to come and give a warm Mount Olive welcome to visitors from various faith traditions and congregations and hear a highly informative presentation.

Reconciling in Christ Festival Worship

The Reconciling in Christ Program of ReconcilingWorks Twin Cities welcomes all people to join in their eighth annual Metro Area Festival Worship on Saturday, January 26, 2013, 4:30 p.m., at First Lutheran Church (463 Maria Avenue, Saint Paul). The service of Word and Sacrament celebrates the welcoming ministries of Metro area Lutheran churches. Rev. Anita Hill will preach.

The RIC program rosters Lutheran congregations that welcome and affirm LGBT persons in their full sacred worth. Both the Minneapolis and Saint Paul Area Synods are RIC Synods and together include dozens of RIC worship communities. A light supper will follow the service. All are welcome!

Altar Flowers

The sign up chart for weekly altar flowers has been posted in its usual spot next to the church office. If you would like to sign up to provide flowers for worship to commemorate a special day, in memory of a loved one, in honor of a special event, or simply to help beautify our church for worship, please sign up on the chart for the date you want, and be sure to include your designation. The cost of the altar flowers this year is $50 per Sunday for two bouquets. If you wish to provide only one of the bouquets, simply sign on only one of the two lines provided for each Sunday. The cost for one bouquet is $25.

Bread Bakers

Are you interested in being one of our Communion Bread Bakers at Mount Olive? Or would you just like to learn how to bake bread? A "Bread Baking Party" and demonstration will be held at 5:30 p.m. this Sunday, January 13, at John and Patsy Holtmeier's home, 601 Drillane Road, in Hopkins. Call or email Patsy if you are interested. 507-327-4999, jpholt67@gmail.com.

Olive Branch Deadline

Please note that The Olive Branch is prepared each week on Wednesdays (so that those who do not have email can receive the information at roughly the same time as those who do have email). The deadline for articles or announcements to be published is each Wednesday at noon. If you have information to share with the church community and want it to be published in the newsletter, please be sure it is submitted to the church office by Wednesday of the week you would like it published. It is also helpful to note how many weeks you wish your article or information to be included.

Book Discussion Group

Mount Olive’s Book Discussion group meets on the second Saturday of each month at 10:00 a.m. For the January 12 session, they will read Caleb's Crossing, by Geraldine Brooks. For the February 9 session they will read In the Company of the Courtesan, by Sarah Dunant. All readers welcome!

Cantor’s Sabbatical Next FallDo you have an Extra Room?

Cantor Cherwien will be on Sabbatical September through November 2013.

As specified in his letter of call, Cantor Cherwien is eligible for a three-month sabbatical leave after each six years of service. His second cycle will be completed this coming fall. It is not only a time for Cantor Cherwien to gain some new experiences and
energy, it is also a time to invite in some new and fresh ideas and experiences from a guest musician, and for Mount Olive to provide some energizing experiences to a guest musician!

It was determined by the Worship Committee and Vestry that to continue to provide for the highest meaningful quality of liturgy during this time, an interim person would be sought who could serve full time during those three months to carry out these responsibilities. An effort was also made to find someone with some unique gifts to bring into our midst during this time (hopefully, different from Cantor Cherwien’s gifts!)

Housing might be needed for this Interim Musician next fall.

Having cast the net quite widely in covering those responsibilities here at Mount Olive during this time, it is very likely that the person invited to serve as interim will be from out of town. If you have extra space in your residence which could be made available to this person, please let the office know. Also let is if pets would be allowed – one prospective candidate has a dog and would hope to have this companion along while here in Minneapolis for this purpose.

Church Library News

At the beginning of this New Year it is time to make special resolutions, even if they are sometimes difficult to keep! One suggestion to all adults is that we resolve "to keep reading, to help children to get into the reading habit, and to make use of all libraries available to you (most especially our own church library!)

The newest display in our library contains these interesting and helpful books:
•The Heart of Paul: A Relational Paraphrase of the New Testament, by Ben Campbell Johnson
•The Parables of Jesus in Matthew 13, by Jack Dean Kingsbury
•Salvation By Surprise, Studies in the Book of Romans, by Earl F. Palmer
•Meredith’s Second Book of Bible Lists, by J. L. Meredith
•The Complete Gospels (new Translations of the Four Gospels, Plus the Gospels of Thomas and
Mary, the Sayings Gospel Q, The Secret Gospel of Mark and 12 Other Gospels From the First Three
Centuries), by Robert Miller, editor
•Gifts From the Bible: An Illustrated Collection, by Ennen Reaves Hall
•The Bible’s Most Fascinating People: Stories from the Old and New Testaments, by R.P.
Nettlelhorst
•The Fullness of Life - Aging and the Older Adult, by Cedric W. Tilberg, editor
•The Evening of Life - Thoughts for Mature Years, by Fredrik Wishoff
•Families Where Grace is the Place, by Jeff Van Vonderen

The Second Annual "Take Your Child to the Library Day" will take place Saturday, February 2. This is a grassroots program launched by enterprising librarians in Connecticut, and 120 libraries participated last year. Along with the resolution mentioned above, I hope you will help extend this program during 2013.

A bumper sticker I spotted recently seemed appropriate to share with you (let me know if you agree!) and it read like this -- "Librarians Are One For The Book!"

- Leanna Kloempken

Thank You!

Mount Olive's chancel, nave and narthex were again beautifully decorated for the Christmas season. This was accomplished through the efforts of many: those who brought in and placed the trees, the volunteers who hung all of the greenery, and those who hung the lights and Chrismons on the trees.

Thanks also to those who removed the greens and trees and cleaned up after. We are grateful and wish to thank all of you for your time and willing hands.

Another Note of Thanks

A complete printed set of The St. John’s Bible has been given to Mount Olive by David and Susan Cherwien for display in the Chapel Lounge. They are given in thanksgiving to God in honor of their parents, Walter and Marian Cherwien, and John Palo and Myrtle Grapatin Palo. In addition, Art and Elaine Halbardier are creating and donating a cherry wood bookstand for it. These seven volumes are reproductions of the original, hand-written St. John’s Bible recently completed for St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville. Thank you to the Cherwiens and the Halbardiers for this gift of God’s Word!

Congratulations!

Congratulations to former vicar Mark Niethammer and his wife Amalie on the birth of their first child, a daughter, Julia Astrid Niethammer. She was born on Jan. 8 at 12:01 p.m. at 8 lbs, 2 oz. Amalie and Julia are doing well.

Save the Date!

The Mount Olive Missions Committee will sponsor Taste of Ethiopia on Sunday, February 10. Watch for more information!

Brunch Suggestions, Anyone?

In preparation for the Conference on Liturgy and other public events at Mount Olive this season, Susan Cherwien is updating the brochure of Places To Have Brunch Near Mount Olive. If you have any suggested additions or deletions, please contact Susan at scherwien@aol.com.

2012 Year-End Contributions Statements

Contribution statements for 2012 are printed and available to be picked up at church, near the coat room. You may call the church office if you would like your statement mailed to you.

If you have any questions about your statement, or if you require a detailed amortization of your contributions, please call Cha at the church office.

Sunday, January 6, 2013

The celebration of the Epiphany leads us to see the light of the star which points to God’s love for us known in our Lord Jesus, a light which is ours for guidance and help, should we remember to look for it and know what to do with it.Pr. Joseph G. Crippen, The Epiphany of Our Lord; texts: Matthew 2:1-12, Ephesians 3:1-12; Isaiah 60:1-6
Sisters and brothers, grace to you, and peace in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

I used to lock up the building each night at St. John’s, my previous parish. It was a separate job we hired out, but traditionally one of the staff had it. It got so that I knew the building so well I could and would walk through it without a flashlight and check all the doors, even in pitch darkness. One night Hannah, probably a junior in high school at the time, was locking up with me, and we were heading through the social hall. Now someone had moved some of the chairs around, and one was where it shouldn’t have been, and I smashed my shin against it, hard. I might have said something I didn’t want my teenage daughter to hear. I straightened up, walked on, and not two steps later I hit another chair that wasn’t supposed to be there, even harder. Remarkably, for any of you who have come to think I possess a modicum of intelligence, I repeated this event a third time. Each time, it was harder to hold back not only language, but anger and irritation at whoever hadn't put the chairs back. As I stood there in pain, rubbing my shin, wondering at the coincidence that it was the same shin all three times, my very intelligent daughter said quietly, “Um, Daddy, maybe we could turn a light on.”

I thought of this last week when I read Isaiah’s powerful promise we just heard. “Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you.” If you are walking in thick darkness, “gross” darkness, as the King James version has it, it is good news that light is coming, and if the darkness is the darkness of a world without God’s love and grace, then light from God arising is also very good news.

Unless you persist in walking in darkness and banging your shins against the evils of this world. On Epiphany we celebrate the bringing of the light of God in Jesus to people who were not of the chosen people of God, broadening the Good News of Jesus’ birth beyond just one race of people. Magi from the east, outsiders, foreigners, see a star and follow it to the place where Jesus and his family are. And they see the gift of God to the world in that little child.

The only problem is, too often we don’t emulate the Magi, and so we miss the star that leads us to our Lord Jesus. Even though Epiphany is about the light of God shining into our darkness, we end up wandering in the darkness of our lives without the benefit of God’s light.

The gift of light into darkness is an important image of the seasons of Advent and Christmas, but it becomes the main focus of the season of Epiphany.

The image of light in darkness is so powerful. Think of absolute darkness. Then think of lighting a single candle. Isn’t it amazing how the darkness dissipates? How when you open a door in a room that is pitch black and there is light on the other side of the door, the light removes the darkness, not the other way around? Little wonder that John’s Gospel speaks so hopefully about the Light which the darkness cannot comprehend or overcome.

The promise we’ve been celebrating is that God has come into the thick darkness of the world and brought the light of Jesus: a Prince of Peace to lead us away from violence and war; a Great Physician to heal our pain and suffering; a Savior to free us from our sinful ways and make us new; a risen Lord to give us life eternal in the face of ever-present death.

There is no question that we know darkness in our lives, that the world seems often shrouded in darkness. And no question as well that we want the light of God to dispel that darkness. But somehow we still miss out on it.

We so often live our lives from moment to moment, without a clear purpose or direction, or desire to change. Our lives get busy and complicated, so we just take things as they are, and as they come, even though light is available should we want it.

We allow ourselves to fall into bad habits of not praying regularly and seeking God’s will and wisdom. We don’t stay connected deeply to God’s Word and try to learn how it can and should shape and guide our lives.

We seem to run after all sorts of things in this world that don’t satisfy us, and don’t take the time to stop and look for God’s direction or light. We too easily fence God off from the bulk of our lives, our decisions, our planning, our introspection, even our resolutions for a New Year, as if we can live most of our lives without God.

And then we wonder why the darkness confuses us, harms us or others, pervades our world. But we don’t change our daily existence very often. It’s sort of like we just keep banging our shins and hoping it won’t happen next time.

If things are going well, we might not notice that this is a problem. But when darkness comes, we can find that we’re unprepared, and lost. When a loved one falls ill, people don’t know what to do, don’t know where God is, don’t know where hope is. When our bad choices lead us to problems, individually or collectively, we blame others, or God in our fear. When a job is taken away, or a house is foreclosed, people are terrified and confused. When tragedy strikes close to home, and in our modern world, even when it strikes folks far away, people are angry and lost. Where is God in all this darkness? we wonder.

So we have this disjunction between what we know and what we do, between this reality of the modern world and our proclamation today that God has come into our world to bring light to our darkness.

We say we believe that this light brings hope in every place of darkness in our world. Hope in the face of all the difficulty and tragedy that fills the world, that God has come to transform that and heal it. Hope also that this light of Jesus shines on our pathways of life and leads us to a new way of living, a way that is the way of God, re-directing us and guiding us to a life of meaning and purpose and direction.

The distressing thing is, the Church has known this for 2,000 years, and we have more Christian people lost than ever before it seems.

It might be worth our while to look at the Magi today, since they’re the main actors in our story. It turns out they’re very important to us, because they remind us to look for the star. To turn on the lights instead of stumbling in darkness.

What the Magi teach us is to look for the light and know what it means.

They say to Herod: “We have seen his star in the East, at its rising, and have come to worship him.” Remember this: there were lots of people who saw that star who didn’t know what it meant. The Magi studied the stars and believed they gave signs and direction to people on earth. When they saw the star, they knew what it meant: a king for the world was born to the Jewish people. Many others who saw that star didn’t know what it was about.

You see, all the light in the world isn’t going to help us if we don’t know where it shines, and don’t know what it means for us. The headlights on our cars are most useful when we know they are intended to light up the road in front of us, instead of leaving them off, or thinking they’re decorative lights to be used to brighten up our garages. This means knowing where our light, our star is, and knowing what to do with it.

There are several stars, several lights which God gives us to shine in our darkness, and all are powerful if we only know to look for them. We are given the Word of God, the Sacraments, the gift of each other, the Body of Christ, and all shine God’s light in our lives. But let’s just consider the one of these three which teaches us about the others, the light to our path that is the written Word of God.

The Magi teach us today to know our light. Study it, so we know what it is telling us. So they would say, study God’s Word. Read it regularly. Worship regularly also, so we hear it (a key way Martin Luther believed the Good News comes to us).

Will it always enlighten our lives? Not in obvious ways every time. But study and learning takes time. The Magi studied the stars for years before finding one which led them to God’s life and light. And so it is with God’s written Word. There are passages that made little sense to me ten years, twenty years ago that now seem very clear and helpful. And I hope in another 10 years, or 20 years, the Word will be even more clear to me.

And the more we are immersed in God’s Word, the more we meet the Living Word of God to which it points, our Lord Jesus, and the more we are shaped. It becomes less a proof text kind of thing where we’re looking for a direct answer to a specific problem, and more a shaper of our lives, a light for our path, as Psalm 119 says, a direction for us to follow, and the voice of Jesus our Lord. And since the Magi studied stars all their lives, we can expect the learning of God’s Word will take us at least that long.

But the Magi also teach us another, very important thing, the message my daughter gave me in the dark: if you know where the light is, then do something, follow it.

The Magi said, “we have seen his star in the East, at its rising, and have come to worship him.” The second half of that sentence teaches us this second thing we learn from the Magi. Once you see the light, you follow it. There were probably other astrologers in Persia, or wherever the Magi came from, who understood what the star might mean. But it’s doubtful they all came. And only the ones who came saw the light of God in that little child.

So, too, it is with us. There are plenty of Christians who have heard the truth about God, and own Bibles, who come to worship, but who are lost in the darkness of the world. Ourselves included, sometimes. So the challenge of the Magi is that once we have begun to be immersed in the study of God’s Word, we then must learn how it can and will change us, lead us somewhere, lead us to see the true face of God for us. The Magi call us to let God’s Word truly guide us to change how we live, how we walk in this world, how we know God.

This is the mark of a Christian who knows where the light of God is: that person lives in the light. Their lives are different, shaped by God. They make choices based on the Triune God’s will for their lives and based on what is good and right in God’s eyes, not based on spur-of-the-moment thinking, or selfishness and greed, or anything else. They don’t stumble aimlessly through life, but live always seeking God’s light to brighten the path ahead. Which means that though they still might stumble from time to time, because they can see they’ll know where to walk to get out of the mess.

And they live in the presence of the God the star-revealed Child now reveals to us all, in the love of a God who loves us beyond death.

Our hope on Epiphany is that we have the chance to let God’s written Word do what God wants it to: lead us to the Lord of life, and to a life of following the Lord. A life lived in God’s light, even in a world of darkness and pain. A life which shows us God’s grace in all things.

It’s a miraculous gift that God brings light into our lives.

Epiphany, the season of light, always reminds us and recalls us to that gift. If we ignore and neglect the gift of God’s light, we will stumble in darkness. And there is no need for us to do that.

So today, let us ask God to make us like the Magi of old: people who each day learn more and more about God’s Word and plan for us, and so know God’s light in our darkness; but also people who then follow that light and are changed by it.

We have seen his star. Let’s follow it and worship him, and walk as children of light.

Friday, January 4, 2013

Accent on Worship

ELCA Presiding Bishop's 2012 Christmas Message

This year the Christmas story is inseparable from our deep sorrow for the children of Newtown, all who died and all who mourn. We can make no sense of such violence, so we cry out for mercy. And God hears our pleas.

God responds with words of promise saying, "I am with you. I am with you in Jesus, the child lying in a manger. I am with you in Jesus who has borne your grief. I am with you in Jesus on the cross and risen from the dead."

God's promise is that nothing in all creation will separate you from God's love in Jesus. So amid the unspeakable, we can join the angel choir singing, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace." Because our hope is in Christ, we can rejoice in the wonder of Jesus' birth.
I wish you a blessed Christmas.

Starting January 3 and running for six weeks, there will be a Thursday evening Bible study meeting in the Chapel Lounge from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Pr. Crippen will lead a six-week series titled “Captive Conscience” which focuses on reading the Bible, how we are shaped by God’s Word, and what lenses we use as we read the Scriptures.

As with last year, there will be a light supper when we begin. If anyone wishes to provide the first week’s meal, please let Pr. Crippen know. Looking ahead, in Lent Vicar Cannon will lead another six week study.

Conference on Liturgy: Jan. 18-19, 2013

This year’s Conference on Liturgy will be held January 18-19, 2013. The theme of this year’s conference is, “The Green Altar: Liturgy as Care for the Earth.”

The conference begins with a hymn festival on Friday, January 18, 2013, at 7:30 p.m. Leadership for the hymn festival this year will be by the Mount Olive Cantorei, Cantor David Cherwien, and the Rev. Dr. Paul Westermeyer.

Please note that the cost for Mount Olive members to attend this year’s conference is $35/person. Additional registration forms are available at church, or by calling the church office.

Every Church a Peace Church

Mount Olive will host the next monthly potluck meeting of Every Church a Peace Church on January 14, 2013, beginning at 6:30 p.m. The speaker for this meeting will be Dr. Charles Amjad-Ali, Martin Luther King, Jr., Prof. of Justice and Christian Community at Luther Seminary in Saint Paul. He will address the topic, "Peace from Below: Martin Luther King's Legacy and our Vocation."

Plan to come and give a warm Mount Olive welcome to visitors from various faith traditions and congregations and hear a highly informative presentation.

Book Discussion Group

Mount Olive’s Book Discussion group meets on the second Saturday of each month at 10:00 a.m. For the January 12 session, they will read Caleb's Crossing, by Geraldine Brooks. For the February 9 session they will read In the Company of the Courtesan, by Sarah Dunant. All readers welcome!

Reconciling in Christ Festival Worship

The Reconciling in Christ Program of ReconcilingWorks Twin Cities welcomes all people to join in their eighth annual Metro Area Festival Worship on Saturday, January 26, 2013, 4:30 p.m., at First Lutheran Church (463 Maria Avenue, Saint Paul). The service of Word and Sacrament celebrates the welcoming ministries of Metro area Lutheran churches. Rev. Anita Hill will preach.

The RIC program rosters Lutheran congregations that welcome and affirm LGBT persons in their full sacred worth. Both the Minneapolis and Saint Paul Area Synods are RIC Synods and together include dozens of RIC worship communities. A light supper will follow the service. All are welcome!

A Word of Thanks

Many thanks to you all for the gifts and kind remembrances you have given to us at this season of giving, and for your continued prayer and support of our mutual ministries.

The sign up chart for weekly altar flowers has been posted in its usual spot next to the church office. If you would like to sign up to provide flowers for worship to commemorate a special day, in memory of a loved one, in honor of a special event, or simply to help beautify our church for worship, please sign up on the chart for the date you want, and be sure to include your designation. The cost of the altar flowers this year is $50 per Sunday for two bouquets. If you wish to provide only one of the bouquets, simply sign on only one of the two lines provided for each Sunday. The cost for one bouquet is $25.

Bread Bakers

Are you interested in being one of our Communion Bread Bakers at Mount Olive? Or would you just like to learn how to bake bread? A "Bread Baking Party" and demonstration will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, January 13, at John and Patsy Holtmeier's home, 601 Drillane Road, in Hopkins. Call or email Patsy if you are interested. 507-327-4999, jpholt67@gmail.com.